Cooking oil stands out as an important wholesale restaurant supply in any restaurant business, bakery business, and foodservice business in the food and beverage industry. The demand for cooking oil is very high, as a result investing in the wholesale cooking oil business is a great opportunity for success.
Key Takeaway: Starting a cooking oil wholesale business requires you to understand the basics and complexities as it isn’t a stroll in the park. If you are on this page, you are in for a ride because the rudiments and intricate elements that will guide you to a successful cooking oil business will be unraveled.
Wholesale cooking oil business goes beyond the profit, it is a fusion of passion, driven by eCommerce business skills, branding, and proper management. So, read on to get enlightened on how you can get your wholesale cooking oil business started.
7 Cooking Oil Business Ideas
If you have the dream of starting a wholesale cooking oil business, it is important that you are focused. The cooking oil industry is vast, as a result, you need to be strategic in your approach when starting your business.
There are several cooking oil business ideas you can venture into, depending on your preferences and available resources. To help you in your cooking oil wholesale distribution business niche selection, top seven cooking oil business ideas are discussed below.
- Specialty Cooking Oil Store
Special oils from rare sources are high demand products and are always needed for luxury cuisines. So, you can open a store that specializes in selling premium cooking oils.
Such oils include nut oils, cold-pressed olive oils, carrot oils and more. All you need to do is to keep educating your customers about the health and nutritional value of adopting the oils in your digital catalog for their respective cooking endeavors.
- Health and Organic-focused Oils
As a wholesale business owner, you can opt to focus more on health-conscious consumers and businesses. The fact here is that customers in this bracket are growing on a daily basis, so you can be sure to have a booming wholesale cooking oil business.
Health-focused oils include avocado oils, grapeseed oils and coconut oil. They are known for having rare nutritional benefits.
- Farm-to-Table Cooking oils
Selling farm-to-table cooking oils gives you an edge over everyone else. The reason being that, most consumers will drift more towards cooking oil products with a known raw material source.
All you need to do is to gain true access to local farmers that can make raw materials available to you, that is if you can’t farm your raw materials yourself.
- Online Cooking Oil Subscription
You can explore the potential of selling a cooking oil subscription box that allows weekly, biweekly and monthly oil deliveries. This will help you make recurring revenue and grow your customer base.
The beauty of the subscription box is that it is boundless. You stand the chance of getting orders far away from your locale.
- Ethnic Cuisine Cooking Oils
Choosing to make cooking oils for specialized meals is always lucrative. Here, you can sell oils that are used to make continental recipes.
You’ll have to make your oils to have flavors that appeal to these regions. Mixing wholesale spices and organic herbs during the cooking oil production process is a great idea to create exotic or ethnic flavors.
- Private Label and Repackaging
If you don’t have the time or resources to set up your own cooking oil manufacturing plant, you can resell and repackage cooking oil as a private label brand. To make the process easy, try partnering with established wholesale oil manufacturing companies and wholesale food distributors.
Ensure that your repackaging material is eco-friendly. You can even offer customized packages to your customers. This can serve as souvenirs and gift items.
- B2B Bulk Supply
Supplying cooking oils to catering businesses, restaurants and food manufacturers in bulk is another great cooking oil business idea. You have to ensure that you maintain consistent high cooking oil quality, competitive wholesale prices, and prompt delivery.
How to Start Cooking Oil Business
Launching a wholesale cooking oil business requires adequate planning to be successful. A prompt and professional execution of your plans is a great way to put your wholesale business out there.
To make it easier, here are the steps you need to follow for you to successfully start your wholesale cooking oil business anywhere in the world.
- Market Research and Product Selection
Knowing your target market is the first step in any business endeavor. Your research about customer preferences, needs and their respective consumer behaviors in the cooking oil industry will help you create your unique selling proposition and stand out from the competition.
With the information about consumer behavior at your disposal, you are already equipped with viable information that will scale your business as soon as possible. One of the main decisions you make after market research is deciding the kind of cooking oil you’d sell.
Your decision may depend on the choice of the oil that is in demand at the time of launch. This may be current health trends, your consumers’ location, or the purchasing behavior of your prospective customers .
One thing you might want to try out is selling a blend of regular cooking oils and specialty oils. This may be the option that will blow up your brand.
- Business Plan and Registration
Outlining your business goals, preferred target market and other key elements determines your brand’s success. Your business plan is a practical and workable roadmap that helps you channel your efforts.
In this document you have to write your wholesale marketing plan as well as your wholesale food pricing strategy. Also, do well to factor in your financial projections and expansion plans. It is important you have this written down because you will find it handy when your business begins to attract other investors.
Additionally, you need to have the necessary wholesale licenses that allow you to run your wholesale cooking oil business. Such licenses and food safety certificates are always location specific. Always ensure that you stick to all the licensing guidelines in order to forestall any occurrence of sanctioning that may hamper your business.
- Sourcing Suppliers and Quality Assurance
You need to get a dependable wholesale cooking oil supplier for your selected type of cooking oil. Search and reach sustainable agreements with suppliers of quality cooking oils.
When selecting your supplier, make sure you carry out all necessary and important quality checks. This shouldn’t stop at the beginning of your business, you should check for quality at every instance the supplier is making any supply to your depot. Maintaining a top quality cooking oil stock will keep your business growing.
Vendor negotiation is important. Talk about pricing, delivery timelines, online ordering schedules, minimum order quantities (MOQ), and the types of cooking oil you want at the initial stage.
You can then proceed to sign wholesale purchase agreements and contracts. It is important to implement vendor management best practices to maintain vendor relationships. You can also implement vendor management system to track vendors, vendor billing, invoice processing, and vendor payments.
- Branding and Wholesale Food Packaging
Having a strong brand identity will go a long way to influence your B2B vs B2C sales. Develop a branding strategy that speaks well to your target market. You can use the customer data from your market research to create a strategy that will suit your brand and target audience.
A catchy and compelling packaging design conveys the depth of quality and uniqueness of your cooking oil brand. It is a must that you get your packaging designs right.
- Marketing and B2B Sales Management
The next thing after packaging is marketing your brand to other businesses that will need your supply. There are several wholesale marketing strategies you can use to promote your wholesale cooking oil business
One effective strategy is digital marketing. It will give you a wider reach at a relatively low cost because your digital footprint will be everywhere it needs to be.
In the quest to market your business, do well to engage your customers. Listen to their feedback, attend to their questions and always create a positive customer experience. If you put in more energy and resources into marketing, then your eCommerce sales will definitely grow over time.
After all of these, you have to make a choice of your food distribution channels. Distribution channels will definitely vary depending on the location of the customer, and quantity being purchased. Just ensure that you don’t take options that will stress your customer.
Having done all these, make sure you keep records of all your financial engagements. Set up a reliable eCommerce accounting management system that can help you calculate your expenditures, taxes, salaries and profits. Monitor your accounts to ensure the sustainability of your brand.
Cost of Starting a Wholesale Cooking Oil Business
Now that you know how to start your wholesale cooking oil business, let’s look at the possible cost of setting the business up.
- Business Registration
Licensing and registration - $700 - $2500, legal fees - $800 - $1700
- Product Sourcing
$5000 - $25000
- Branding and Packaging
Label and eCommerce packaging design - $500 -$1200, printing labels and wholesale food packaging - $900 - $3000
- eCommerce website design and Development
$1500 - $6000
- eCommerce marketing and Advertising
Social commerce marketing - $2000 - $4000, influencer marketing - $2500 (Per Influencer)
- Wholesale Distribution Channel
Brick-and-mortar store - $3000 - $5000, online shipping will be determined by the distance and oil volume
- Operational cost
Utilities, packaging materials, office supplies, wholesale software tools - $1500 - $3500
- Emergency funds
$2000 - $3000
Note that all the figures written above are extrapolations and it may vary with respect to location and type of cooking oil you’ve selected to sell.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Start Wholesale Cooking Oil Business
Setting up a cooking oil wholesale business comes with some headaches. It is important you clear your confusion. Here are some frequently asked questions about how to start a wholesale cooking oil business.
Is Vegetable Oil Business Profitable?
Yes, the vegetable oil business is profitable. Though the profitability depends on some factors like location, type of oil that you sell. The profit range in cooking oil business can be between 17% - 38%
Which Oil Business is Best?
Deciding the best oil business may be difficult as it depends on how you can manage your oil business. That notwithstanding, Castor oil, palm kernel oil, olive oil among others have been said to be among the best oils you can choose to deal with.
What are the 3 Best Oils For Cooking?
The three best oils for cooking are:
- Olive oil
- Groundnut oil
- Soy oil